Who am I?

I’m a disability and civil rights advocate. I have the advantage of having worked for ACLU, Disability Rights TX (a nonprofit law firm for people with disabilities), AND private attorneys on special education and disability matters.

I’m also the mother to an 18 year old with autism. I have an extensive background working with disenfranchised and marginalized people, and organizing and advocating for them. And if your child has a disability, they are included in this category, especially when you confront daily systemic barriers such as those within school systems and state and governmental agencies.

I remind parents who come to me exasperated that integrating differently-abled children into schools is not unlike when we first integrated black and brown children into previously all-white schools. Just because the law changed and children were bunched together in classrooms, it didn’t mean that racism all of a sudden didn’t exist. Attitudes, bigotry, and unspoken barriers still remain(ed).

The same holds true for children today who require special education services. Not all school administrators know (or care) about differently-abled children and many don’t think your child should be receiving precious resources. Barriers to the idea of disability still remain. Disability is a civil rights issue.

If you are having problems with your child’s school or services or with organizing or training citizens in a particular community, I can help.

Robert TJ Thurston of Thurston Law Offices, has been practicing law for 26 years and hasbeen a solo practitioner for the last 7 years. He has had general practices in Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has won several large trials. The majority of his practice is in special education. He obtained his JD from Ohio State College of Law and is the father […]

Jolene Philo is the daughter of a disabled father and the mother of a child with special needs. After a 25 years as an elementary teacher, she left education in 2003 to write and speak about special needs. Since then her articles have appeared in regional and national publications including Focus on the Family and ParentLife. Her books, A Different Dream for […]

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) is one of the world’s largest and most successful organizations treating children with autism, Asperger’s syndrome, PDD-NOS, and related disorders using state-of-the-art therapy. CARD treats autism using the principles and procedures of applied behavior analysis which has been empirically proven to be the mo […]

Kristina Chew is a Classics professor; mother of a teenage son, Charlie, who’s on the moderate to severe end of the autism spectrum. She is also a translator and teacher of Latin and ancient Greek; a blogger, formerly at My Son Has Autism/Autismland (2006-2008), Autism Vox (2006-08) and Change.org (2008-09) and now at We Go With Him; happily married to cultu […]

Janet Grillo is an Emmy Award winning producer, an Award winning writer and director, and a former Studio Executive. In 2007, Janet was Executive Producer of the esteemed documentary AUTISM: THE MUSICAL, with Bunim Murray Productions, which premiered on HBO in March, 2008. A frequent blogger for The Huffington Post, Janet is also an Autism Advocacy activist […]

Kathryn Burke is the creator of LD Experience. She is married with two children; her eldest son is a gifted teenager with learning disabilities, ADHD and other health challenges. An active volunteer and education advocate, Kathryn has been honored for volunteer activities with children at risk, including citations from the Government of Canada. She has recen […]

I interview Joann Collins, author of Disability Deception and mother of two adult children with disabilities. Joann's style is one I admire and we talk about her honesty about relationships schools have with parents. You can find her at www.disabilitydeception.com.

I interview Dennise Goldberg, of IEP Advocates in LA. Dennise is a parent of a child with special needs and a special education advocate, in addition to the being the founder of an online network for parents of special needs. You can catch Dennise at www.theiepadvocates.com or www.specialeducationadvisor.com.